Sweet 'n Crunchy Chicken Salad
Sweet ‘n Crunchy Chicken Salad
Cooking 101
Chicken salad, slightly sweet with fruit with just the right amount of crunch… almonds and celery! Perfect make ahead Salad for packing work or school lunches on busy days too. Use fresh, cooked or preservative-free canned chicken and a few other ingredients … you will love the results!
Sweet ‘n Crunchy Chicken Salad
Yield: 6 – ½ cup servings for sandwiches or salad
Ingredients:
2 cooked chicken breasts (3/4 pound), cubed
(or one 12.5 ounce can chicken, preservative- free)
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
2/3 cups light mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 black pepper
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 dried cranberries (or 8-10 fresh red grapes, chopped)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Equipment Needed:
Cutting board
Chef knife
Medium mixing bowl
Measuring spoons
Dry measuring cup
Rubber spatula
½ cup ice cream scoop for portioning, if desired
The best lunch ever is chicken salad… don’t you think? This recipe is delightfully sweet and crunchy with just a bit of zestiness to tickle your tastebuds too! I often make this with leftover roasted chicken or boil up a little chicken breast, but more often than not, I use canned, chicken…preservative-free of course! So easy too, as it takes literally 10 minutes to make. Stores great for a few days to make quick, nutritious lunches in a snap. I use this recipe for grilled chicken sandwiches too.. little mild cheese and a warm lunch or dinner is served! Gather your supplies and let’s get mixing!
Prepping the veggies is the first step! One fourth cup of onion is about ½ a diced small onion. One half cup of celery is about two stalks. To easily dice celery, slice stalk lengthwise into four strips as shown above. Then chop ¼ inch chunks, vertically across the stalk. You want onion and celery chunks small so they mix in well with the chicken and don’t over power. All ingredients in this salad wind up being fairly similar in size, as every bite should include a bit of each…meal appeal!
If using fresh cooked chicken breast, cut breasts into ½ inch slices first and then chop into ½ inch cubes about the size of a dime or nickel... no larger. If using canned, drain juices first and then break up chicken chunks with a fork into small shreds.
Making this salad is soooo easy! Begin the mixing process by adding chicken, diced onion and celery in a medium mixing bowl and stir to combine. Next add the light mayonnaise and seasonings. If using canned chicken, reduce the salt by half since salt is generally already added in the canning process. If you have never used celery seed you’re in for a treat! Hard to describe the flavor, but if you like sweet pickles… you’ll love the added flavor celery seed adds to your chicken salad too. Stir again to combine these ingredients. I usually don’t combine everything at once as I want to make sure ingredients get separated in the blending process. Stirring breaks up the chicken a little more too and prevents the fruit from falling apart! Last is the addition of the sliced red grapes or dried cranberries and almonds! These last ingredients add the sweet, crunch to the salad that my hubby loves! I usually have red or green grapes in the refrigerator, but started using cranberries one time when I didn’t because I missed the tangy sweetness of the fruit! Doesn’t the salad look yummy? Take a taste!
Whether you place a scoop of chicken salad on a bowl of lettuce or on a slice of bread… you will enjoy your meal! Open-faced sandwiches are great with this salad too… less bread! Add some raw vegetables, pickles or fresh fruit and a balanced, nutritious lunch is ready… Enjoy!